Irish Street Art

Photo courtesty of Finglian on Boards.ie

I became interested in Irish street art around 2004 while I was studying design. There are so many different kinds but I'm speaking more of the guerrilla visual arts movement which has taken art and political statement to Ireland's streets. While many grafs are purely whimsical, what resonates with me are the stencil artists who take what we're all thinking and give it meaning and structure. The story of our time is being written across the city for anyone who cares enough to read it.

Maser / Ballymun Flats from Albert Hooi on Vimeo courtesy of Irish Street Art.

Nobody is better at these declarations of the Irish soul than Maser, who's typographical works can be seen plastered across hoardings at the docklands, across buildings in Temple Bar and even turning the last of the Ballymun towers into a beacon marking a turning point in Irish urban history. Maser collaborated with Damien Dempsey to produce a body of work entitled They Are Us. The exhibition was a tribute to Dublin, the dirty bits and the lovely bits, in an effort to raise money for the homeless. Prints can still be purchased on Damien Dempsey's website. These pieces normally consist of a line, or some lines of text, and in a way there is nothing really remarkable about how they are presented, but the location of the pieces adds context and gravitas to a sidewalk or building in a run down part of town which would otherwise be lifeless. One of the best examples I can think of is the piece at the docklands entitled Greed is the Knife but the Scars Run Deep. Situated amidst the empty shells which were once earmarked as multi storey car parks or apartment blocks, it serves as a stark reminder of how Ireland's economy was brought to it's knees.

Madonna of The Ghetto pic courtesy of Will St.Leger

Another favourite of mine is Will St. Leger. I had the privilege of watching him work on a stencil piece at the Forbidden Fruit Festival earlier this year, and I was amazed at the pace at which he took a stencil and some spray paint and created a masterpiece within 30 minutes. St.Ledger makes comment on Ireland's consumer culture, cultural identity, civil rights and current affairs. A political activist, he has been known to chain himself to, climb up on or stage performance art outside the gates of Dáil Eireann to advance the cause of equal civil rights for LGBTQ's.

Will St. Leger's Brilliant take on the eyeroll inducing Hunky Dorys ad campaign.

I admire his money-where-your-mouth-is attitude and the razor sharp wit that comes across in his work. Visually I love Madonna in the Ghetto, but you cant beat Duty free State for giving two fingers to Ireland's consumer elite. My personal favourite is God Dates Fags, a dig at the colourful Phelps family and their bile fuelled church.

photo courtesy of Eugene's Blog

Karma is a relative newcomer to the Irish street art scene, though he's been knocking about in 2006. A self taught stencil artist his work varies from stripped back, small scale and understated to large and complex, normally accompanied by some poignant caption and like Maser it's the location of the piece that underline it's meaning. He's been compared to British artist Banksy and though the stencils have a similar favour, I think it's fair to say his grafs are unique and from the heart. Check out a great interview with Karma in London Street Art Design Magazine (Issue 6).

Photo courtesy of Caroline Murphy on Flickr

ADW is one of the best loved and well known street artists working in Ireland today. His work commands a lot of respect from the street art community, if you can call it that. Again, he's a stencil artist, a creative who like so many others became disillusioned and eventually disenfranchised by the creative industry. When the Irish economy went under he decided to take the opportunity to become a full time artist "Since then I haven’t looked back". The trend certainly doesn't go unnoticed to me, especially, some of you will know, the way my own career pather has gone. I find it really encouraging that so many of these guys decided to take the tough times in their lives and turn them into something positive that gives so much to the urban landscape.

Photo couresty of Loki's Flickr account

Loki is the only girl in my group. There are definitely not enough chicks involved in street art, but that's an argument for another day. Part of the Nom Nom Collective and working in print and traditional art mediums she's actually one of my favourite artists on the Irish scene at the moment. There's an Aubrey Beardsley vibe to her work, particularly her sticker art and sketches, and yet she's completely out on her own in that nobody is doing similar work. It's really refreshing to see such a left field approach to street art. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Lady Lokibee in the near future.

I could quite seriously spend all day on here listing out more great artists but this post would go on forever. If you're interested in Street art and similar goings on then check out Irish Street Art, It's a great blog and resource. Also check out Candy, they release a free magazine that includes all kinds of visual art but have a few nice features on street art now and then and London Street Art Design Magazine, which is a bible when it comes to this stuff. Brilliant interviews and tonnes of great images. Kings of Concrete is an annual event which showcases the best of Irish street art as well as a tonne of other urban pursuits. It's becoming a sort of urban festival, check out the website for updates.

***Update***

ADW art exhibition 'Pricks and Mortar' October 21-23 South Street Studios, Dublin. Check out www.ADWart.com